May Police Search Vehicle Passenger’s Purse When Passenger Was Not Subject to Personal Search?
State of Ohio v. Laura Mercier, Case no. 2007-0980 1st District Court of Appeals (Hamilton County) ISSUE: When police make a lawful vehicle stop and arrest the driver, do they have authority to perform a warrantless, non-consensual search of the purse of a female passenger in the vehicle who is not suspected of a crime when the purse was worn or carried on the passenger’s person at the time of the stop? BACKGROUND: A recent line of U.S. Supreme Court decisions has held that police who make a lawful stop of a vehicle and place an occupant of the vehicle in custody have authority to perform a non-consensual search of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and any “container” located within the passenger compartment. This case asks the Supreme Court of Ohio to apply those rulings to a situation in which the driver of a car was stopped and arrested for drug trafficking, and officers subsequently performed a non-consensual search of the purse of a female passenger in the car, which she wa
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